Vella Paniyaram and a Chettinad Breakfast Spread | How to make Inippu Paniyaram or Vella Paniyaram or Sweet Paniyaram

As we step into the last few posts of the BM Buffet, cant believe the run is almost over for this mega marathon. Combo Meals, Condiments, Breakfast, Indian Spread – the journey has been a great ride !!

With a few missed posts due to personal constraints, I have managed to post a decent spread so far. Today we have a rather elaborate Chettinad type breakfast that my family enjoyed a lot. The filter coffee is conspicuously missing in this picture, but it was part of the menu too J 

Enjoy this virtual spread with Idli, Vada, Thinai Dosa, Vella Paniyaram (sweet dumplings filled with melted jaggery), Nool puttu (or Idiyappam), Chettinad Khara Chutney, Tiffin sambhar and Kothamalli Chutney.

Today I shall be giving the recipes of only the Vella Paniyaram. Recipes for Idli, Vada are already shared on this blog. Nool Puttu, Thinai Dosa, Chettinad Khara Chutney and Hotel Style Sambhar and Kothamalli Chutney shall soon follow as individual posts later.

Chettinad cuisine is the cuisine of the Chettinad region of Tamil Nadu state in South India. The Chettiar community, who are a majority in this region, are a very successful trading community. Chettinad cuisine is one of the spiciest and the most aromatic in India.

Chettinad cuisine is famous for its use of a variety of spices used in preparing mainly non-vegetarian food. The dishes are hot and pungent with fresh ground masalas, and topped with a boiled egg that is usually considered essential part of a meal.They also use a variety of sun dried meats and salted vegetables, reflecting the dry environment of the region. The meat is restricted to fish, prawn, lobster, crab, chicken and lamb. Chettiars do not eat beef and pork.Most of the dishes are eaten with rice and rice based accompaniments such as dosais, appams, idiyappams, adais and idlis. The Chettinad people through their mercantile contacts with Burma, learnt to prepare a type of rice pudding made with sticky red rice.Chettinad cuisine offers a variety of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. Some of the popular vegetarian dishes include idiyappam, paniyaram, vellai paniyaram, karuppatti paniyaram, paal paniyaram, kuzhi paniyaram, kozhakattai,( I know it’s all tongue twisting names) , athirasam etc  - Source : wiki

For the linguistically challenged, there is a lot of difference between Vella Paniyaram (aka Inippu Paniyaram or sweet paniyaram) and Vellai Paniyaram (Vellai means White colour) – both are from Chettinad cuisine but are made differently

For the Vella Paniyaram (Vellam in Tamil means Jaggery), you would need:

Makes : 16 – 18 paniyarams

Idli rice – 1/2 cup

Normal short grained rice – ½ cup

Urad dal  - 1/3 cup

Fenugreek seeds / methi seeds – 1 tsp

Salt – to taste

Jaggery – ¼ cup (or little less)

Grated coconut – 1 TBSP

Cardamom powder – ½ tsp

Oil / ghee – to shallow fry the paniyaram

Method:

Soak both rice varieties with fenugreek seeds for 6-7 hours. Soak Urad dal for 3-4 hours. Grind them separately into a slightly thickish dosa batter. Mix well with salt and let it ferment overnight.

 In the morning, beat the batter well and mix to uniform consistency. Take a portion of the batter (about 5-6 ladles for the paniyaram). The rest can be used to make Idli / Dosa

To the batter portioned out, add coarsely powdered jaggery, a pinch of soda (totally optional), cardamom powder, grated coconut and mix well. Heat the paniyaram pan well and spoon this into the greased moulds. Let it cook well on one side (I usually cover it lightly to let steam do its trick). Now gently flip over to the other side, and let it cook till slightly browned and crispy. Add ½ tsp oil more if required.  Serve hot.

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